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What’s in a name? Would feta by any other name taste as salty (or be worth the full price)?

Perhaps not, according to the European Union, which is using trade-partnership talks with the
United States to press its case that cheese names such as feta, Parmesan and ricotta should be used
exclusively by the Europeans who originated them.

Ohio producers, many of whom have made these cheeses for generations and often are immigrants
from Europe, would have a big problem with losing the right to use the names they say define their
cheeses.

“The deepest impact would be the inability for our companies to use those brand names and market
them overseas, in the U.S. or locally,” said Scott Higgins, CEO of the Ohio Dairy Producers
Association. “We just can’t stand to take that risk.”

As for cheese production, which is part of the dairy industry, Ohio ranked 10th in 2012, the
latest year for which U.S. Agriculture Department data are available. That year, Ohio produced
198.9 million pounds of cheese.

For years, Ohio has been the top-ranked state for Swiss- cheese production, with 137.7 million
pounds in 2012, which represented 43 percent of the nation’s production that year, according to the
USDA.

Brewster Dairy in Brewster, Ohio, is the largest U.S. maker of Swiss cheese, producing 85
million pounds each year at plants in Stark County and in Stockton, Ill., and Rupert, Idaho,
according to the company’s website.

“Swiss” cheese does not appear to be one of the names protected by the European Union through
its “geographical indications and traditional specialties” scheme, which is similar to the U.S.
practice of trademarking product names.

The European law is aimed at protecting the reputation of regional foods, helping farmers get
premium prices for their authentic products and eliminating unfair competition from look-alikes of
inferior quality.

In addition to cheese names, the European Union protects names for meat products, wines
(including Champagne), spirits and “aromatized drinks,” such as Sangria.

The EU is trying to enforce its food-name protections through bilateral trade agreements, such
as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership it wants to develop with the United
States.

It is unclear when the two might take up the cheese-name issue or how they will resolve it,
though “rules of origin” were on the agenda for the fourth round of trade negotiations concluded
yesterday in Brussels.

Enforcing protections for common cheese names such as cheddar and ricotta would be a trade
barrier, said Higgins, of the Ohio Dairy Producers Association.

“While I respect the desire of the EU to protect the names of (its) cheeses ... we’re talking
about a type of cheese” whose name is commonly used, said Angel King, co-owner of Blue Jacket Dairy
near Bellefontaine in Logan County, which makes two cheeses on the protected list: gouda and
feta.

If required to change the names of her dairy’s cheese, King would choose names such as Gretna
Grillin’, the name for her dairy’s halloumi-style cheese, which originated in Greece. Gretna was
the name of a former hamlet down the road, King said.

“I would just delve into the history of our area and come up with some name that has a special
meaning to Ohio and our history,” King said. As an artisan cheese-maker, Blue Jacket has “the
ability to be very creative in the use of our names,” she said.

Sens. Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown, along with 50 of their Senate colleagues, recently sent a
letter to the USDA and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative asking the agencies to fight the
EU’s efforts to prohibit American dairy producers from using dozens of common cheese
names.

“America’s dairy farmers and producers work hard to develop a product and brand that resonates
with their customers,” Portman said in a written statement. “If the EU succeeds in establishing
trade guidelines that would restrict branding, it could hurt product sales and jobs here in
Ohio."

At least 11 Ohio cheese-makers could be affected by the potential change, according to Portman’s
office.

Three years ago, Jean Mackenzie, owner of Mackenzie Creamery in Hiram, faced a similar situation
with the U.S. licensee of the name “bucheron,” a goat’s milk cheese native to the Loire Valley in
France. Rather than fight the licensee, Mackenzie changed the name of her product.

“We’ll just call it Baby Buche and a Bucheron-style cheese,” said Mackenzie, who is outgoing
president of the year-old Ohio Cheese Guild.

That’s the advice of Neville McNaughton, an artisan cheese-maker consultant with CheezSorce in
St. Louis.

“Having fanciful names on our cheeses is part of the business proposal of a small cheese-maker,”
McNaughton said.

That fanciful name becomes a valuable brand.

“I’m a New Zealander, and we can’t use the word ‘feta,’ ” McNaughton said. “We embrace global
values because it’s about respect.”

If the EU succeeds, an artisan cheese-maker might have to replace thousands of labels, Mackenzie
said. But for large cheese-makers, rebranding their cheeses-could be expensive.

“The big guys hate it,” McNaughton said about the European proposal. “And for the little guys, I
don’t think it matters.”